Xiaohongshu's rules have been changed again, after removing the brand mark...

After the epidemic was lifted, the commercialization path was still being actively explored. As the New Year of 2023 was approaching, Xiaohongshu also began to make changes. The author of this article will interpret the hard-core knowledge behind this change with everyone.

On May 6, 2022, Xiaohongshu launched the "Community Business Convention", which clearly emphasized that transactions must be completed on the site, and it is not allowed to divert transactions outside the site through Xiaohongshu personal pages, comments, private messages, etc., keeping the initiative of commercialization firmly in its own hands.

As a platform positioned as a "content community", Xiaohongshu has mainly used content-based promotion to attract customers. However, it is not the only one in the promotion business. Major companies such as Tencent, Taobao, Pinduoduo, Douyin, and JD.com have entered the market, and the market is becoming increasingly fragmented.

At the same time, due to the impact of the three-year epidemic, both well-known brands and emerging brands have tightened their belts, carefully spending every penny, thereby reducing marketing expenses.

Shrouded in this era, facing internal and external troubles and its long road to commercialization. As the New Year of 2023 is approaching, Xiaohongshu has "taken action" on the advertising delivery component again.

On January 5, the advertising logo (handshake logo) was officially changed to "invisible mode", which triggered heated discussions among different roles such as brands, bloggers, and institutions.

So, is this operation a good start in the new year after the epidemic is relaxed? Or is it a positive exploration in its commercialization exploration? In this article, you can follow me to interpret the hard-core knowledge behind this change.

01 Update content explanation

Let’s take a look at the official notice first:

Starting from January 5, the Dandelion brand cooperation logo has been officially upgraded to the "Brand Marking Component" . Brands/agents can check the option to display the brand marking component when placing an order on Dandelion (if not checked, it will not be displayed by default). It supports jumping to professional accounts. This function does not require additional payment and is displayed in the lower left corner of the Dandelion note details page. It is only displayed under natural traffic and the display time is 5 seconds: it will be displayed every time the user enters the note details page.

To summarize briefly, the "handshake logo" of Xiaohongshu's brand cooperation advertising logo still exists and its function remains unchanged, but the component form has become optional, and the "handshake logo component" is not checked by default.

In other words, when placing advertisements, brands can choose whether to display the handshake logo. If they do not specifically check the box, the default is not to display it.

Q: What should be done with the Dandelion Notes that have been published or ordered but not released before January 5th?

A: The brand cooperation logo will no longer be displayed by default, that is, the handshake logo will no longer be displayed.

(As you can see, it’s obviously an advertising collaboration, but the handshake logo is no longer displayed)

02 Cooperation logo positioning and Dandelion component interpretation

Some of you may still have a vague understanding of the cooperation logo. What part does it belong to? What is its function? I will answer them one by one here.

As a member of the Dandelion component family, the purpose of the cooperation logo is mainly to distinguish whether the note is a hard advertisement or a soft advertisement, and to protect the user's right to know about advertisements.

The members of the Dandelion component family that are currently officially launched for public testing are:

1. Full text component (handshake mark)

2. Interactive components (voting and PK )

3. Comment Area Component

The function of the Dandelion component family is to provide in-depth recommendations and note recommendations.

The comment area component is located at the top of the business note comment area, and supports jumping to the search results page, product details page, and store page, so that users can further understand the brand and related products after reading the notes, and help brands to conduct in-depth content seeding, thereby greatly shortening the conversion link from seeding to ordering.

Official data from Xiaohongshu shows that more than 2,000 customers have issued more than 55,000 cooperative notes with comment area components . This feature not only significantly promotes click-through conversions, but also increases the interaction rate of notes by up to 10%+. Compared with promotional notes of the same content type in the same period, commercial notes using PK tools can increase the interaction rate by 90% ; and notes using voting tools can increase the comment rate by up to 758%.

It is also worth mentioning that the issue of data tracing has become somewhat feasible in the comment area component. Previously, when brands were doing delivery and review, it was difficult to track the content of the delivery, whether there were effective explosive articles, how many effective explosive articles were produced, and whether it was the result of the explosive article... With the addition of the comment area component, there is a certain data support, and the fog of blind spots in the review has been dissipated more.

03 Interpretation of the cooperation logo "stealth mode"

As a company that has been exploring the path of commercialization, Xiaohongshu is trying to maintain a delicate balance between the community, users, brands, and content creators (bloggers) after its commercialization. The "invisible mode" cooperation logo is, to some extent, "what the people want."

The most widely known is the existence of cooperative logos, attitudes of different groups towards them, and a series of behaviors:

For users , most people will subconsciously avoid notes with obvious advertising logos when browsing the page, and will immediately resist and distrust the commercial notes created by bloggers;

According to the "China Urban Consumer Advertising Acceptance Survey Report" released by Zero Point Company, the number of consumers who do not believe in the content of advertisements is 17.2% higher than that of consumers who believe in the content of advertisements.

For bloggers, it is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the cooperation logo can prove their commercial value, but on the other hand, they are worried that its advertising nature will lead to the loss of fans and traffic, not to mention the time, money and creative costs invested in carefully producing a cooperation note.

For a brand , if the campaign they invested a lot of money in fails to achieve the expected KPI because it looks too much like an advertisement, wouldn’t that be a waste of money?

│Let’s first review the official timeline of the business cooperation note logo│

1. In March 2020 , Xiaohongshu launched the brand cooperation transaction function, and the platform began to manage the operation of business notes, including content cooperation notes. The cooperation between brands and bloggers needs to be reported on the platform. For business cooperation notes, Xiaohongshu will make relevant annotations on the page display.
2. Starting from August 2021 , business notes will no longer display advertising or sponsorship marks in the information flow recommended by natural traffic. Instead, they will only display the brand cooperation logo in the lower left corner of the note image for 5 seconds. When users click on the cooperation logo, they will jump to the corresponding brand account homepage. When they return to the original page, the cooperation logo will automatically disappear and will not be displayed again until the note is closed and reopened.
3. On January 5, 2023 , Xiaohongshu upgraded the "Brand Cooperation Logo" to "Brand Mark Component". Brands can choose to display the brand mark component when placing an order on the Dandelion platform. If unchecked, it will not be displayed by default. This function does not require additional payment.

It can be seen that Xiaohongshu's Dandelion platform has begun to grow. If it was "wild growth" before, it has gradually begun to develop into "strategic growth". The prediction of its commercialization is self-evident: while striving to create a closed business loop, it also optimizes the commercial experience.

1. Inspiration for brands

After the revision, brands can choose to display or not display according to their marketing needs. But I think most people will not choose to display. After all, hard advertising notes are too "costly" and thankless. Minimize the user's resistance and attract them first.

Although the "invisible mode" of this logo can reduce users' resistance to a certain extent, what companies really need to focus on is still to focus on their own products and refine their marketing layout.

For marketing optimization, Mr. Kotler, the author of Marketing Management, defines the entire process from user awareness, interest, inquiry, purchase, and active sharing as the 5A model. For corporate marketing, the link where the target user is located often reflects his understanding of the product and his focus. Companies can use this to track marketing effects through the entire link and by scenario, and optimize marketing behaviors in a targeted manner.

(Image source: Kotler Consulting Group)

2. Inspiration for bloggers

I have received many complaints from bloggers: "This product itself is very useful, but after cooperating with the brand, it is considered to be a meal." "Creating cooperative notes is more brainpower and financially demanding, because you try your best to do it well, but once you see the cooperation logo, not many people will read it."... It seems that bloggers have a lot of resentment towards this logo.

On the one hand, it accumulates its own brand value, and on the other hand, it has to bear the pressure of its image collapsing at any time and being criticized for making a living.

After the cooperation logo is hidden, the business notes created by bloggers will be more natural and the presentation form will be closer to real notes, which will be more acceptable to fans and passers-by.

However, do you think users are so naive? Can they not tell whether it is a promotional post or not? The poster cover, comment area components, and brand topics of a typical report note all convey the message that "this is a meal note."

From this perspective, the cooperation logo is actually more like a sleight of hand. If it is not displayed, it will make users feel that you are not sincere enough.

Once a content creator loses the trust of users, it is extremely difficult to restore his image.

Therefore, have a correct attitude and reflect carefully. What is it that really makes your fans and users unacceptable? Is it the quality of your video content, the product you are selling, or the logo of cooperation?

Fans will choose to accept truly popular content and will tolerantly allow bloggers to edit it.

3. Impact on Users

When Xiaohongshu no longer displays the cooperation logo, it also means that users can no longer tell at a glance which are advertisements and which are purely personal sharing. In addition, there is no shortage of low-quality notes outside the site, and Xiaohongshu's content ecology will face new challenges. Users will only become more strict with content.

Of course, if users cannot see the cooperation logo, they may be more willing to comment and interact, which can also help this note to enter the next wave of larger traffic pool.

4. Impact on institutions

While improving user perception, the cooperation between bloggers and brands will become more flexible, which is conducive to the commercialization of the organization.

04 Other changes

1. The shopping portal becomes a video

The original shopping entrance in the lower left corner has been changed into a video entrance. The user experience is basically similar to that of short video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou. You can switch videos by swiping up and down, and functions such as likes, comments and forwarding are also available.

2. Advertising tools increase video streaming

According to the E-Commerce News, after the video stream went online, Xiaohongshu’s advertising delivery tool “Full-site Smart Investment” added video streaming scenarios.

After this episode, it seems that everyone has been relieved as if a thorn in the eye has been removed. But what we really need to think about is whether the less than ideal result data should be borne by this handshake logo?

After turning it into "stealth mode", what kind of functions will be criticized?

As Xiaohongshu explores the path to commercialization, will the next step be what we expected?

Final summary

Please be tolerant and have confidence in Xiaohongshu. As Cao Hu, global partner and president of China at Kotler Consulting Group, said:

"As a real consumer experience sharing platform, Xiaohongshu can provide companies with the real voice of customers. Therefore, the value that Xiaohongshu brings to companies far exceeds the value that traditional market research can bring."

Author: Zhuang Jun

Source: WeChat public account "Zhuang Jun (ID: zhuangjunweixin)"